What are the criteria for the MANNA meal program?   MANNA’s meal program is for individuals who are suffering from life-threatening illnesses and are at nutritional risk due to the disease or treatment for the disease. In order to determine if you qualify, we need for your primary care physician to complete a referral form and fax it to our nutrition department. MANNA also requires a nutrition evaluation to be completed before we can determine if someone qualifies.  The evaluation can be done by your dietitian or a MANNA dietitian.

MANNA provides both Nutrition Counseling and Medical Nutrition Therapy (MNT).  What are these and how are they different?  

• Nutrition counseling is the development of a healthy diet plan that fits a client’s nutritional needs.  This type of assessment can be performed by a Registered Dietitian or by a Dietary Technician, Registered (DTR).
• MNT is a therapeutic approach to treating medical conditions and their associated symptoms via the use of a specifically tailored diet devised and monitored by a Registered Dietitian. The diet is based upon the patient’s medical history, a physical examination and dietary history.  MANNA’s Registered Dietitians meet with clients one-on-one to provide MNT.

What are the criteria for the MANNA nutrition counseling program?  MANNA’s nutrition counseling program is available to anyone with a chronic illness or medical condition who does not have access to a dietitian.  MANNA provides all counseling free of charge. Contact MANNA’s Nutrition & Client Services department to schedule an appointment.

What areas do you serve? MANNA delivers to the Greater Philadelphia and southern New Jersey areas. To find out if you are within the delivery area please view our interactive delivery map.

How do I apply for services? To apply for MANNA services please have your medical care provider complete a MANNA Referral Form. This form can be found on our website or you can call MANNA and we can mail the form to you or fax it directly to your doctor. Once the form is complete, fax it back to MANNA’s Nutrition & Client Services department and we will contact you to discuss the services.

Do you have a meal program that can accommodate my (renal/diabetic/heart healthy, etc.) nutritional needs? MANNA has 11 different diet modifications to meet clients’ nutritional needs. A client can receive up to 3 diet modifications at once. However, MANNA meals are not vegan or vegetarian, kosher, nut-free, macrobiotic or gluten-free.

What if I do not like specific food items, can they be eliminated from my diet? MANNA cannot eliminate specific food items that are provided in the meal program. We will do our best to cater our meals to the clients specific dietary needs. Please contact MANNA’s Nutrition & Client Services department to address these needs.

What if the portion sizes are too big? Too small? MANNA has three ways to accommodate decreased appetite:

• MANNA offers deliveries every other week
• Small portion dinner entrees are available
• MANNA’s supplemental program provides dinner entrees only

Unfortunately, we cannot increase our portion sizes or options to provide more food than what is provided in our standard diet.

Can I just have the breakfast or lunch options and not the dinner meals? MANNA offers either the complete nutrition program which includes breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert daily, or the supplemental program which offers just the dinner entrees each week.

What is my delivery day? What are the delivery hours? Each client is scheduled for once per week delivery which is on the same day each week. If you happen to forget your delivery day or need to make changes, contact the Distribution department. MANNA delivers between the hours of 8:00am to 5pm Tuesday through Friday.

What do I do if I cannot be home for my MANNA meal delivery? If you cannot be home for your delivery you need to call MANNA 24 hours prior to your scheduled delivery so that we can cancel that day’s delivery. If we have enough notice of the cancellation, we can reschedule the delivery for another day that week.  If you miss your meal delivery two times, you will not be able to receive any further MANNA meal deliveries.

I am not sure how to follow the diet that was recommended by my doctor, is there someone who can help me? If you have questions regarding your dietary guidelines, please contact a MANNA dietitian. Our dietitians are available to help with any question or concerns that you may have.

What other food resource programs are there in my area? For information on other services in your area please contact MANNA’s Nutrition department.

Do you supply nutritional supplements? MANNA does not supply or offer nutritional supplements. You must speak with your doctor to find out if you insurance company covers the cost of the supplements. Since supplements are treated like your medication, you will need a prescription written by your doctor which would then be submitted to your insurance company. If your insurance company requires a nutrition evaluation and you do not have a dietitian you may schedule an appointment with a MANNA nutritionist.